November 02, 2015 01:33 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Monday (Nov. 2)

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• by: Colorado Pols

If you forgot to set your clock back one hour on Sunday, you could always just save yourself the trouble and move to Arizona. It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► DON’T MAIL THAT BALLOT!!! If you still have your ballot for the 2015 election, which concludes tomorrow, please don’t put it in the mail. Instead, click one of the following links for more information on ballot drop-off locations.

Visit GoVoteColorado.com to check your voter registration status or to print out a sample ballot. You can also check out JustVoteColorado.org for more information. For more details on local school board elections, check out ProgressNow Colorado’s voter guide.

► Senator Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) played his role today in a political theater production about his endorsement of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for President. Gardner tried to downplay a growing controversy about Rubio’s clear disinterest in doing his actual job of U.S. Senator, but this is the same guy (Gardner) who in 2014 criticized then-Sen. Mark Udall for a handful of missed meetings. D’oh!

► Gardner voted ‘NO’ on a two-year budget bill that was passed on Friday, and Marco Rubio even showed up to work to add his own ‘NO’ vote. Colorado’s other Senator, Democrat Michael Bennet, supported the legislation that keeps the U.S. from falling off of another fiscal cliff.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Former Florida Governor Jeb! Bush is trying to press the “reset” button on his fledgling campaign for President. Our friends at “The Fix” consider the odds that a “reset” will really work for the onetime Republican frontrunner:

Jeb Bush and his campaign want you to know one thing: He gets it. He knows he needs to reset his campaign after a series of disappointments of the fundraising, polling and debating variety. His speech this morning in Tampais meant to be the visible symbol of a fresh start — a chance to wipe the slate clean and begin again.

“Our story is about action,” Bush says in a draft of the speech shared with reporters. “Doing, not just talking. Listening, not just lecturing.”

The message and its intended target is clear. ‘I’m the guy who has done things for the conservative cause,’ Jeb is saying. ‘Marco Rubio? He’s a guy who just talks a lot.’

Implicit in that message is that Bush is not the orator or communicator that Rubio is. But talk is cheap — as Republicans found out over the last eight years with President Obama. Jeb is a doer; Rubio is a talker — just like Obama.

I get it. It’s smart, politically. But I am not sure it will work for one reason: Jeb is still Jeb.

But…but…Jeb!!!

► Four people were killed in a Colorado Springs shooting on Saturday. All four people were killed by bullets, fired from guns.

► A new contract is in place to (theoretically) complete the Aurora VA Hospital project. As Mark Matthews reports for the Denver Post, the new completion date is scheduled for 2018:

Even if the hospital is ready before 2018, it still would represent a major setback for the VA and Colorado veterans. At one point, the VA was shooting to finish it by February 2014, according to a  2013 report by the Government Accountability Office.

“I obviously wish it would be a lot sooner,” Coffman said. But he said he still felt much better now that the Army Corps was managing the work. “I have confidence in this date for the first time.”

This must be a relief for Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora); it’s hard work pretending to be doing your job as Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee

► Tom Tancredo says he is quitting the Republican Party (yes, again). The longtime Congressman from CD-6, onetime Presidential candidate, and two-time candidate for Governor explained his decision in an opinion piece for Breitbart:

By insulting the grassroots, the GOP leadership has set upon a suicide mission. The problem is that failed leadership is allowing Obama to destroy the Constitution and take the whole country down the drain. Well, count me out.

The Boehner budget deal is the last straw, and enough is enough. I cannot any longer defend this transparently dishonest charade called the Republican Party.

What I will do instead is join the largest political group in the nation, unaffiliated Independents. In Colorado, they outnumber both “major” political parties.

Fine, but all we really want to know is this: Will Tancredo still get to attend the Coffmangate parties?

► Colorado Republicans are planning a “hearing” about Planned Parenthood for Nov. 9. The far-right Republican Study Committee of Colorado wants to spend about 6 hours discussing the same thing over and over again, but Planned Parenthood politely declined to participate.

► Ryan Frazier is still contemplating a 2016 campaign for U.S. Senate? Whatever.

► Colorado lawmakers are trying to finalize legislation intended to deal with cleaning up old mine sites throughout the state.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► The Republican National Committee is mad about debate formats and NBC and…well, they’re just mad. This is all nonsense, of course, but Republicans like to fight amongst themselves whenever possible.

► Rest in Peace, Fred Thompson. The former Tennessee Senator and longtime actor often portrayed elected officials on the big screen. Thompson died on Sunday at the age of 73.

ICYMI

► The undefeated Denver Broncos had no trouble beating the previously-undefeated Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. The 7-0 Broncos are now among the top four favorites to win the Super Bowl; Vegas bookmakers list the Broncos at 8-1.

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